Chapter One

This first thing that Rey heard was the sound of water crashing against the rocks, but that couldn't be. She was barely awake but already she felt her internal warning signs ringing: Her jaw clenched and her tendons were tight. Am I alone? She thought, and listened keenly.

There was no sound aside from the water. Which was very difficult to understand because her last memories were of Chariansta, a ball of rock and sand where water could be discovered only when you burrowed ten feet down. She decided to open her eyes slowly.

A airy, spacious room slowly swam into view. It was early-mid morning, judging from the light. Said light came a few yards from where her feet lay. Without moving, Rey could judge that she was lying on some sort of… couch? There was some sort of pillow lying behind her head. Her eyes adjusted further. The floor of the room was smoothed stone and despite the airiness she was not cold.

"Come on Rey." She whispered. She put both hands flat on the couch and pushed up slowly, aware that every sound she made. She sat up and blinked. There wasn't a lot of furniture on this room. It wasn't cosy at all, it had different feel to it. Still taking it slow, she found her feet. Now she was upright, she could really smell the sea now, not just hear it. She was alone. She walked toward the sea-sound.

Out in the stronger light she could see that the stone flooring was very precisely laid, in a range of patterns. She wanted to stare at it more closely, and decided that she had better pay more attention to her surroundings first before getting too absorbed in it. The flooring extended out of the room she had been in, and until she had reached the edge she didn't realise how far up she was. The beach was about 7 yards below this platform. All around her was the water.

Small jolts of adrenaline moved through her. Moving at some speed, she followed the stone deck around the edge of the room she had been in. The island extended further in the opposite direction, but past a small grove of trees, she could see only a horizon line of water. Looking back the way she had come, the buildings did not appear to her to be… normal. The rooftops had were painted with a pale gold paint, and all along the tops of the walls were painted a series of symbols. The decking ended, so she ran back the way she had come.

When she did so, she noticed something she had not noticed before.

There was a large stone sculpture on an extended piece of the stone deck. It was made of a pale-ish marble and as Rey approached it she noticed a sort of gleam to it. As though it stood out from it's surroundings somehow. It looked very tactile to her and she almost touched it before a voice startled her.

"Did you sleep well?"

Rey froze, with her fingertips outstretched to the stone. Then she pulled her hand back and turned to face the voice.

It was a humanoid figure, standing on the other side of the pool. He was not armed and he did not strike her as being military. He was wearing a robe of a plain material.

"I, I don't remember. I must have been drugged, Rey said, the words forming and leaving her mouth without calculation. "Did you?…"

"Drug you?" the figure, a man perhaps barked out a laugh. "Why in this world would I do that?"

"I don't know!" Rey snapped back almost in a rage. Nothing was making sense, at all.

A look which could have been sympathy crossed the man's face.

"I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. You should know that it's not mine either."

Rey passed a hand across her brow. During the time she had spent awake the temperature on this little island had increased and her bewildered thoughts had not helped to cool her down. Another voice was speaking to her.

"Hello?" this voice sounded more mellow, calmer.

"My name is Telios. This is my partner Jannesse. He is sorry to have added to your confusion."

Rey looked. A second man figure had appeared looking slightly taller than his companion. He was smiling at her with some warmth in his eyes.

"I, I'm Rey."

"Welcome to the Sierve Sanctuary." Telios said. "It gets hot here and you'll need some fluids."

Rey nodded after a moment. In her brief exploration she had spotted no crafts, space-going or otherwise on the island. If she was to escape, she would need answers. She walked over the intricate stone deck towards the two strangers.